Art History

Italy: Birthplace of the Renaissance

Italy was the birthplace of the Renaissance, a historical period beginning in the late fourteenth century in which people started taking an interest in the learnings of earlier times, specifically in the cultures of Ancient Greece and Rome. As the French word 'Renaissance' implies, it was a rebirth in the appreciation and study of these classical times. It was also a rebirth in the interest of the individual and the human capacity to learn, otherwise known as humanism.

The idea of the Renaissance is associated with  rebirth. This being said, we all know that every birth needs a mom, so for this lesson, Italy will play the role of Mamma Renaissance. The great Italian city-states of Florence, Venice, Milan, and the Papal states centered in Rome will play the roles of her very wealthy, intelligent, yet rather cantankerous children. Before we get to her offspring, let's first discuss the other reasons why Italy was the perfect mom for the Renaissance.

Why the Renaissance Began in Italy

Reason number one was because of its location. Italy is located directly in the middle of Eastern and Western Europe, making it very easy for her, through trade, to spread her new ideas all over the continent. Overseas trade, spurred on by the Crusades, had brought great wealth to Italy. Also, and even more obvious, Italy is actually the home to ancient Rome and many of the Greek beliefs that Rome held. The particular location of Italy made it easy to spread ideas throughout Europe

Reason number two for Italy being the perfect Renaissance mom was her wealthy merchant class. Unlike most of Europe, feudalism, or the idea of wealth through land ownership, never gained a firm hold in Italy. Because of this, Italy, specifically northern Italy, was urban, while the rest of Europe was mostly rural. Fortune was not to be made in Italy through land ownership but instead through commerce and trade. This gave rise to a wealthy merchant class.

The Bubonic plague struck Italy in the 1300s, decimating over 60% of her population. This brought more wealth to the common class. Simply put, because there were fewer laborers, the surviving workers could demand more money. Furthermore, this decimation of the population made it more difficult for the uber-wealthy merchant class to expand their businesses. This freed their money up to be spent on more interesting things, like the arts, architecture, and literature. A perfect example of this is the wealthy Medici family of Florence, a banking family who financially backed many Renaissance artists, the greatest of these being Michelangelo himself.

Reason number three for the success of Italy as the mother of the Renaissance: its city-states. Again, they are Florence, grew powerful due to the trade of wool; Venice, gained power through trade at sea; Milan, had a strong monarchy and was ruled by a powerful line of dukes; and the Papal states, funded by the Church centered in Rome.

Ironically, most of these wars were not fought by the actual citizens of Italy but were instead fought by mercenaries, or condottieri as they were called back then. No matter their name, they were soldiers for hire drawn from the northern countries of Europe, specifically Germany and Switzerland, to do the dirty work of the squabbling siblings. As you can probably guess, the city-states with the most money who could hire the most soldiers - therefore the four wealthiest siblings, Flo, Vinny, Millie, and Roma - quickly absorbed the smaller ones into their folds.

After decades of fighting on land, Florence, Milan, and Venice emerged as the most dominant players. At sea, there were also many battles with the weaker siblings of Pisa and even Genoa. Again, in this contest, the wealthier Venice reigned supreme, giving her hegemony, or a fancy word for domination and absolute rule, over the Italian seas.

As the power of these northern city-states continued to grow, the Papal states of Rome were also growing and changing. The Pope, who held the responsibility of the Catholic Church, also ruled Rome. However, as the wealth of the city-states increased, the Pope became more of a politician than a spiritual leader. Corruption infiltrated the Church, and, as often happens, money followed the corruption, giving Rome its place as one of the wealthy places in Italy.

Without the need to spend money on war, wealthy merchants and people decided to turn their attention to the culture of the arts, ancient Latin, architecture, and the humanistic ideals. Because of this, we have been given the beauty of Michelangelo, the wisdom of Leonardo, and the architecture of Brunelleschi.